


Burden Bear

by pip_girl_111



Series: Tempest [1]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Fluff, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, Smut, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2018-08-07 07:03:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7704982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pip_girl_111/pseuds/pip_girl_111
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>MacCready hasn't trusted anyone for a long time, especially not Annie; the charismatic sole survivor of Vault 111.</p><p>But all that changed when he realises all she wants is someone to watch her back and fill the empty silences, and once MacCready lets his guard down it's a slippery slope that leaves him pining after the saviour of the Commonwealth -something he never thought he'd find himself doing again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Burden Bear

They’d perfected this routine. MacCready would scope out the main threats and take them out before they even realised what was happening. While he was reloading, a carefully hidden Annie would take out any stragglers with her rifle, then proceed to finish the job with whatever melee weapon she’d currently taken a liking to, while MacCready dealt with anyone that got too close to her.

And that’s where MacCready found himself now; watching Annie pulverise a raider with the spiked baseball bat she’d acquired a few days earlier. He scoped around for anyone they hadn’t seen before and, when he was satisfied Annie could deal with the remaining enemies, he sat up and propped his gun next to him- he wouldn’t need it now. The fight was over. He relaxed back and watched her work.

It had taken him a long time to fully trust Annie. Her caring nature and cockiness, her need to steal anything that wasn’t nailed down, the lack of guilt she felt about extorting every cap from anyone she could, all seemed like an immaculately constructed facade to lure MacCready in. Even her long auburn hair, that curled in tight messy ringlets, her bright blue eyes and her small frame, all made her seem like a dream, designed perfectly for MacCready. 

He hadn’t fallen for it. He hadn’t wanted to, not to begin with. He'd let himself believe that there was something she wanted - something that needed his guard lowered -that there was no way a woman like that could exist. So he’d kept his distance, ignored her cheery banter, her stories and her concerns about how sullen he always was. When they’d come across comic books, he’d stamped out his excitement, stopped himself from laughing at any of her jokes and kept his own witty comments to himself. But eventually he’d come to realise that all the things that made her so perfect, were just Annie. She didn’t want anything other than someone to watch her back, to listen to her and make sure she wasn’t completely alone. So he’d tested the waters and told her about Winlock and Barnes.

Before he could even suggest it, Annie told him they’d take them out. During the fight, when he was hit in the shoulder by a bullet from Winlock himself, she’d rushed over to him, oblivious to the fact she was running into the open, and pulled him to safety. Without hesitating she’d stimpacked him and ordered him to stay under cover. _“If you die I’m fucked. So stay here and don’t bleed out,”_ she’d ordered with a wink, pushing him roughly down by his shoulder when he’d tried to stand. Winlock didn’t even realise what hit him. 

It was then he realised that despite every effort to distance himself, he trusted the vault dweller with his life, and apparently his son’s. So that was where they were heading now; to get the cure for Duncan. A trip MacCready never thought he’d be able to attempt again, especially not with the confidence that he’d succeed.  
—————————-------

Annie lent against the wall behind her, ankles crossed and bat slung over her shoulder, waiting for MacCready to make his way down the hill to her. She looked over to him, his small figure cutting into the bland surroundings. She liked MacCready, he was a good friend and she trusted him to watch her back. They got on well and there was something about his wiry frame and sharp features that made Annie's stomach flip whenever they were close.

"Take your time Little Man!" she shouted to him, a smirk playing on her lips.

She heard him mumble something under his breath as he began jogging towards her. She grinned, knowing MacCready would have made some snarky comment. 

"What was that Bobby?" 

"For fu...frick's sake Boss," he groaned.

"What?" She knew he hated the nickname, but watching his face twist up slightly as he tried to hide his annoyance was too cute. "Bobby? You gone mute?" 

"Shut up." He crinkled his nose and pointed at her face. "You've got blood all over you."

Annie wiped at the side of her face he was pointing at, "gone?"

"Ummm, no. It's literally _all_ over your face..." 

She flung a scrap of material at him and he caught it effortlessly. "Get it please," she whined. He huffed but wiped at her face regardless. 

"It's not...it's not coming off," he mumbled, still rubbing at her skin.

"Scrub harder then!"

MacCready scoffed and rested his hand on the back of her head to steady her as he pressed the cloth against her cheek with more force. He was close enough now that Annie could feel his breath on her face, and the touch of his hand on her scalp made her stomach churn. She paused for a moment assessing the situation she found herself in. She wanted to get closer to him, to feel his body against hers, pinning her against the wall, but she didn't want to scare him off. _Couldn't._ She argued with herself, conflicting grounds battling in her mind before her feet took over and she tentatively stepped towards him, slowly pushing at the boundaries of their relationship. She felt her breathing increase as the heat of his body radiated to her, her heart pounded in her chest, muffling any feeble protests that her brain could conjure. Annie's eyes flitted to MacCready's mouth and she wondered what it would be like to close the final gap between them and kiss him. 

She knew her lips were chapped, but his looked soft. _Was he a good kisser? Would he prefer gentle, tender kisses or rough, passionate ones? It had been over 200 years, could she even remember how to kiss?_

He'd stopped wiping her face while she was caught in her daydreams, and they stood staring at each other, his hand still resting on the back of her head. Annie held her ground, her eyes flitting slowly between his lips and his eyes as she lifted her head tenderly towards his. She heard his breath hitch in his throat as their lips approached, warm breath mingling in the closing space between them. Her stomach tightened deliciously and she cautiously ran her hands up the lapels of his jacket. But, as they neared his neck, MacCready spun away, stuffing the rag into his pocket and rubbing his face on the back of his sleeve.

"We better get moving, the whole Commonwealth probably heard that." He gestured flippantly towards the dead bodies surrounding them.

"Yeah... Of course. Yeah..." she trailed off, trying to hide her disappointment. She fought with whether to address what had happened, watching as his face flashed through a myriad of expressions; he wasn't happy. Her heart dropped to her boots. "I'm sorry Mac. About that... Adrenaline, you know. Just a umm... a heat of the moment thing... But yeah let's go," Annie mumbled, gliding quickly past MacCready and back onto the track they'd been following.

She cursed herself internally. He was the only person she had at the moment - without him she was done for, and there was no way she was prepared to jeopardise their friendship and her safety to sedate whatever lustful feelings she was having. Annie ruffled a frustrated hand through her hair. Her scalp was caked in dust and sweat, and she wondered what exactly she looked like. _Maybe that was why Mac had pulled back?_ She could only imagine the state of her hair and face at the moment and she wished she'd had the common sense to pack her hand mirror and hairbrush. MacCready's hurried footsteps behind her snapped her back to reality and she berated herself again; he pulled away because he didn't think of her that way. However difficult she found it, she had to accept that. 

She kept her eyes down and carried on walking, ignoring MacCready completely.  
________________________

MacCready had been waiting for an opportunity to kiss Annie for weeks, but as her hands had glided up his chest he'd freaked out. That was the only way he could describe it. His mind had been filled with a mass of doubts; _would he be good enough, did he even remember what to do, maybe she just pitied him, what if she'd had a bump to the head he hadn't noticed_ , which had eventually risen to a crescendo of him shooting away from her and suggesting they carry on walking. 

He watched as she hurried past him, his mind now empty bar one thought: _you're so fucking stupid,_ the angry words echoing over and over as Annie continued forwards, her figure silhouetted against the slowly setting sun.

"Fuck," he whispered to himself, pulling off his hat to rake a hand through his hair and calm his exasperated mind. He could fix this. He jogged to catch up to her, determined to spin her around and swoop her into a kiss.

_But what if she didn't want to kiss him?_ She'd apologised and called it a "heat of the moment thing." 

His confidence faltered with every foot step, doubts crushing his conviction, and when she refused to even acknowledge him as he approached, he swallowed the final piece of resolve and settled into a comfortable pace a few strides behind her, vowing that the next time he had an opportunity to kiss her, he'd ignore the stupid fucking voices in his head and finally show her how her felt.


End file.
